Theresa Villiers has warned that "continued vigilance is essential" in Northern Ireland as the terror threat level remains set at "severe".

The Northern Ireland Secretary today published a written statement outlining the security situation in the country.

She said the threat level in Northern Ireland from Northern Ireland related terrorism is still set at "severe", which means an attack is highly likely.

Meanwhile, the threat to the wider UK is rated as "moderate", which means an attack is possible but not likely.

Ms Villiers also said there have been 16 national security attacks by dissident republicans this year "in which they have sought to cause harm and death".

However, Ms Villiers said terror activity is being successfully tackled.

She said: "As a result of the strategic approach to tackling the threat from Northern Ireland Related Terrorism pursued by this Government, the increase in terrorist activity that emerged in 2008 has been stemmed.

"There were 22 national security related attacks in 2014 compared with 40 in 2010. But the need for total vigilance in the face of the continuing threat remains."

Ms Villiers said the current threat "from violent dissident republicans is likely to continue".

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